Cameron Bebeau

Originally Published at: https://www.fsuthevoice.com/possible-forced-sale-of-chrome-by-doj/

The U.S. Department of Justice officially proposed a breakup of Google services last Wednesday, November 20, according to reports by CNN. This breakup, if it comes to be, would force Google to sell Chrome, their browser engine, amidst a ruling that states that Google has violated antitrust statutes earlier this year.  
 
Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta determined that “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” and that they specifically violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, per CNN.  
 
According to EconomicLiberties.us, Section 2 of the Sherman Act outlines that it’s illegal for a single company to “monopolize, attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire to monopolize.” The law essentially protects against mega-corporations being able to stomp competition out, fix prices and other antitrust matters.  
 
Google has exhibited monopolistic tendencies whether it be by preventing the growth of rivals, DuckDuckGo and Microsoft Bing, through deals with Apple to utilize solely Chrome software, or by charging more for search-based advertising simply because they can. 
 
CNN also reports in the same article that while regulators didn’t ask Google to sell Android, this can be a possibility further down the line if misconduct continues. This would be an even more devastating punishment to Google, as they’ve invested tens of billions of dollars in development for both Chrome and Android.  
 
This will be the largest antitrust lawsuit since United States v. Microsoft Corp. argued in 2001. This case alleged that Microsoft acted as a monopoly by putting legal and technological barriers that prevented users from uninstalling Internet Explorer on Windows to use other search engine options.  

Punishments or changes may not be seen for months or even years, as the legal process is still underway. 

Photo courtesy of Focal Foto